Cracked Hooves in Gelding..Update Pg. 2

michickenwrangler

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Appys are kind of "all or nothing" with their hooves. They either tend to have thin, shelly feet or rock hard feet (latter more common in foundation breeding, BTW foundation appys are NOT the spotted quarter horse variety. Unlike a foundation QH, foundation appys tend to be lean and rangy).

WHite socks is an old wives' tale.

When your farrier comes out, have him check the depth of the crack. My purebred Arab mare had a similar crack but the farrier said it was shallow. She never had shoes and completed 100 miles of competitive trail barefoot, so it MAY be nothing.
 

LauraM

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Regarding the sweet feed/grain you are feeding......does he need more energy? Does he seem sluggish or not able to work long enough? Because that is what grain does.....it adds energy for specific job, like grand prix jumping, or upper level eventing, or barrel racing and other speed events, or track racing........this is why one would feed a mix based mostly on cereal grains. These mixes ARE fortified, but they only get the benefit of it if you feed the recommended minimum amount which is usually five or six pounds per day. This will give your horse the ability to give you the infamous rocket ride ;) if you are not working him really hard every day. :D

Grains were originally designed for horses to help them have enough energy to simply get through the day, as much as they were used and as much as they had to do up to a hundred years or so ago.......but the average pleasure horse doesn't work THAT hard. :p Upper level competitive horses still do, and need that extra energy to have that winning competitive "edge" but if you don't want to sit on the "edge" when riding, you should not feed grain mixes.

You can feed all the protein, vitamins, and minerals a horse needs by feeding a "ration balancer" like Foxden Equine's LinPro, Buckeye's Gro-N-Win, Purina's Born to Win, Manna Pro makes one, Pennfield makes one........pretty much any name brand has a ration balancer type feed now. They contain only protein, vitamins, and minerals, no fat or calories and do not give any 'extra" energy aside from the normal energy of a healthy horse.

If the horse needs extra weight (though it does not look like yours does), then fat should be added to the diet, like BOSS, whole roast soy, beet pulp, rice bran, etc.



Regarding the hooves, I suggest adding 8 oz of whole flax seed to his diet for 2-3 months to build up the Omega 3 fatty acids in his system. Omega 3 is critical for good coat and hoof health.....as well as overall health of the horse at the cellular level. After a few months, you can drop back to about 4 oz of whole flax seed for a maintenance level. Horses invariably do not have enough Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) in their diet, and adding whole flax seed is always beneficial. Most people find their horse's skin problems (itchy skin, sensitive skin, chronic skin problems, etc) and hoof problems go away, and the horses that tend to get every cold and sniffle and cough and snotty nose that comes down the road become hardier and more resistant to being sick, horses that are poor keepers and hard to keep weight on put on weight and maintain weight easier.

BOSS has a lot of good properties and oils in it, too, and many people find feeding BOSS in conjunction with flaxseed has a sort of synergistic effect on the skin and hooves. Around here we call it feeding "sunnyflax." :D
 

patandchickens

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Hi RoPo, congrats on finally emerging victorious! They sure made you work for it, but you DID it :>

I have to second rethinking the sweet feed. I see no point in it (he is not having trouble taking in enough calories for his needs) and it can potentially get you into trouble. A ration balancer is a Good Thing though, just do enough research to be able to choose it intelligently and feed the right amount. A handful of BOSS won't hurt either.

Can't say much one way or the other about the hoof crack -- you will have to have the farrier take a look and opine -- but it does not look too serious as it does not go into the coronary band. It is even possible it isn't full-depth of the hoof wall, just a surface cosmetic crack (can get those from poor diet and/or being kept in wet or muddy conditions or frequent wetting/drying of feet).

I mean, obviously you DO want your farrier to look at him and make whatever adjustments are necessary, and I'm sure a good farrier (although there are few of those... :/) can get his hooves into *better* shape... but it is not like they are in BAD shape now. Really he looks pretty good considering what *could* have happened, and I would not expect any lingering health problems.

Best of luck and have fun :),

Pat
 

rodriguezpoultry

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As for the sweet feed, I'm only feeding 2 cups per day with 1 cup of BOSS. It's mainly for the "training" regime that will take place in the winter.

It's also a bonding thing and "his" time away from the herd. The BOSS is the main thing I want him to eat and he eats it willingly, but the sweet feed is mainly for bonding and alone time for him.

He's also being run ragged by the rest of the herd at the moment, so a bit of energy now and then is a good thing.
 

aggieterpkatie

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His feet look pretty darn good if you ask me! It could be hard to tell from the picture, but the crack doesn't look deep at all. I would have expected him to come home with barefoot feet with long and chipped toes. Finding him shod with nicely trimmed feet is amazing!
 

patandchickens

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rodriguezpoultry said:
As for the sweet feed, I'm only feeding 2 cups per day with 1 cup of BOSS. It's mainly for the "training" regime that will take place in the winter.
I'd still suggest switching to ration-balancer pellets, at least when your current sweet feed runs out (although honestly I'd switch now, unless there was nothing else you could DO with the rest of the sweet feed). He would get quite a lot more nutrition from it, and most horses like it just fine so it will still work for bonding/training purposes.

Pat
 

apdan

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My farrier told me to use Molimentum or another brand (can't remember the name right now). We have a lot of clay at my house and so when it rains and then gets hot it takes alot of moisture out of the hooves. Our throughbred is the worst for it. So we put that on the hooves and band all summer and it helps maintain their hooves alot! Both are barefoot and have no issues with cracks and riding on gravel! So that might be a an idea of something to use as well.
OHhh just a side note... both are in a yellow can and you can get them at TSC, but the one that I can't remember the name off... it kinda stinks :p
 

rodriguezpoultry

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The hooves are looking worse (at least to my limited knowledge). I've been cleaning the hooves daily and the underneath seems to come apart...almost like chalk in some places.

Meanwhile, the outer wall of the hoof is looking "flaky". I have the farrier coming out Thurs.
 

rodriguezpoultry

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OK, the farrier came out today. Max is now in "slips". The horseshoe he was in wasn't big enough so was worsening the crack.

The shoes that got put on will help protect the now weakened hoof. Wound up that he has a bacterial infection in the crack. The farrier "scooped" out the gunk that was in the crack. There's now a semi-smooth surface. I'm supposed to put Coppertox (Kopertox?) on the cracks on both feet.

He said it could have been alot worse and that I was good in calling him when I did. The back hooves didn't have enough hoof to remove the shoes or put on new ones, but will probably be completely removed at the next shoeing (6 weeks away).



Any one know of a good price for Kopertox? I've been finding it around $23 online for a 16oz. bottle.
 

ducks4you

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rodriguezpoultry said:
I'm supposed to put Koppertox on the cracks on both feet.Any one know of a good price for Kopertox? I've been finding it around $23 online for a 16oz. bottle.
Coppertox is commonly used for "thrush" or hoof rot. It's very common, when horses stand in dirty stalls too long, but usually you have to treat around the frog.
I'm sorry to say that Max is probably not a good candidate for riding this season, if he has a bacterial infection and cavities in his hooves that need healing. This can be a great bonding time for the two of you, however.
I suggest that you read up on all the ground training methods that appeal to you, and spend your training doing that.
I DO understand. :hugs My QH gelding is healing right now from a rope burn--lead rope was tied too long and he got his RR pastern caught, PLUS he came to me in March with an absess that took a big chunk out of his LR hoof. My farrier is keeping an eye on it, because he says that there might still be an absess harboring there--next trim is on Monday, August 2.
Horse.com has it on sale for $18.99, but S & H will cost another $6-7. Don't you have any farm supplies near you? I seriously doubt that you'll need more than one bottle, but even if you do, weigh that cost against your value of your horse. BE careful handling it, because it is rather toxic. The new bottles have a BETTER spout, which isn't supposed to leak that green yucky stuff, like the old one did.
I guess we are NOT surprised that the basxxxd didn't take care of his feet!! :rant
But, don't be depressed about it. It takes some time to grow new hooves, but Max WILL. Horse's are pretty tough. I'm sending you a PM! :D
 
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